This invention relates generally to a piston insertion machine and more particularly to a machine for inserting piston assemblies into respective cylinders of an internal combustion engine.
Internal combustion engines include a vast array of components that need to be assembled in a very precise manner. The proper assembly of the components is of the utmost importance since it ensures that the engine will work within its intended design parameters, i.e., in the most efficient manner.
The assembly of these components is both time consuming and arduous, even for the most experienced technician. This is mainly due to the fact that the technician manually performs many of the assembly steps, even those steps which require lifting heavy and awkward components such as piston assemblies. These steps are performed manually despite the fact that they lead to higher manufacturing and production costs.
By way of example, the internal combustion engine may include components such as cylinder liners, piston assemblies, crankshafts, camshafts, valves and the like. In order to correctly assemble all of these components, the technician typically performs several assembly steps on both the engine block as well as many of the engine components. These steps may include lining the cylinders with cylinder liners, and assembling a piston assembly. The piston assembly includes connecting the connecting rod to the piston with a pin and placing rings within grooves of the piston crown. Once the rings are placed within the grooves, the technician thereafter places the piston and rings within a piston ring compressor. The piston ring compressor compresses the piston rings within the grooves of the piston crown so that the piston assembly can be properly inserted within the cylinder.
Once the piston is properly inserted within the piston ring compressor, the technician manually lifts the piston assembly and aligns the piston with the cylinder. After the technician aligns the piston with the cylinder, the piston assembly (connecting rod first) is manually inserted into the cylinder and the connecting rod is connected to the crankshaft.
However, a single technician cannot insert the piston assembly entirely into the cylinder. Accordingly, a second technician is positioned on a rear side of the internal combustion engine and continues the insertion process. This not only ensures that the piston assembly is completely inserted within the cylinder, but equally ensures that the connecting rod of the piston is properly aligned with and connected to the crankshaft. These same steps must be performed upwards of eight or more times for each engine block, depending on the number of cylinders within the engine block.
As is known, however, some internal combustion engines are very large such as internal combustion engines which power, for example, power generation sets, earth working machinery, paving machinery, load transfer carrying machinery and the like. Due to the size of these internal combustion engines, the piston assemblies as well as other components of such engines must likewise be larger in size. This results in a piston assembly which may weigh upwards of twenty five (25) kilograms (approximately 55 pounds) or more.
When the piston assembly is of such a size and weight it may be difficult for the technician to manually lift the piston assembly. This is especially true when the piston ring compressor assembly is placed about the crown of the piston, which adds further weight to the entire assembly. Due to the added weight of the piston assembly, it may also be difficult for the technician to align and insert the piston assembly into the cylinder. These problems are only increased by the fact that the above assembly steps must be performed countless times during a single workday.
In order to solve these problems, current methods of assembling an internal combustion engine include using more than one technician to lift the piston assembly and perform the aligning and inserting steps. Alternatively, it is known that several technicians may take turns lifting the piston assembly and performing the aligning and inserting steps. In either case, these solutions are not very efficient, and typically lead to higher manufacturing and production costs. Of course, these higher manufacturing and production costs are then passed along to the consumer by raising the cost of the machine which utilizes such engine.
The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems as set forth above.
In one aspect of the present invention, a piston insertion machine for inserting a piston assembly into a cylinder of an engine block is provided. The piston insertion machine includes a barrel assembly and a positioning mechanism attached to the barrel assembly. An inserting mechanism communicates with the barrel assembly.
In another aspect of the present invention, a first component is provided to move the barrel assembly between a first position and a second position. A second component is provided for moving the barrel assembly into an extended position, and a third component is provided for moving the piston assembly into the cylinder.